


Two Undergrads and a Cat

by RubixaSeraph



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, College AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:13:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28248930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubixaSeraph/pseuds/RubixaSeraph
Summary: Okay, so maybe it’s not just two undergrads and a cat.So maybe it eventually becomes two undergrads, a cat, a bird, and a puppy.You’re both studying to be vets. How could you say no?And then it becomes two vet-studies students, with their cat, their bird, and their puppy, being invited to your roommate’s family’s Christmas gathering.You were only supposed to beroommates![2020 Secret Santa gift for TheDyingMoon.]
Relationships: V/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	Two Undergrads and a Cat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheDyingMoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDyingMoon/gifts).



> \- I chose this AU setting to be in America, where I am at least familiar with the education system. Thus, my headcanon is that the characters are of British and Italian mixed descent. This probably doesn’t matter, but flavor text I guess. Happy holidays!  
> \- Disclaimer: I know absolutely nothing about vet studies or schooling beyond undergraduate, and google only helped so much here. I’m sure I’m missing a lot of nuances when it comes to being a vet and having pets, because I don’t actually take care of any pets. My in-laws have dogs, and I, uh… I, *really* can’t deal with anything getting in my space without my permission so I don’t… interact with them much…  
> \- ...There is a distinct lack of poetry recitation in this fic, and for that I apologize. I didn’t quite have the capacity to do in-depth research to find the perfect pieces, but rest assured, V (and Vergil) still loves poetry, and Dante probably does cheesy renditions of classic plays still.

In your first year of college, things went off pretty much as you expected, even with all the nerve wracking new things. 

You live in the campus dorm, and you’re taking courses to study and become a vet. The first year, of course, was full of basic core classes, and of course, the electives. 

One of your chosen electives this year was a course on mythology, starting with a staple: Greek and Roman mythology. 

Being a beginning course, this meant many of the students taking this course could be like you, not majoring in any sort of anthropology and taking this course for electives, minors, or just for plain academic curiosity. 

And among your other courses, you did have a lot of memorable things to take note of. 

Say nothing first of the professor; you’ll get to that later. But first of all, your mythology course often takes up the forefront of your mind because the way you set your schedule up did not account for how far the building was from your course right before it. You will know better, next semester, to properly look into the distance between buildings and the travel time needed, but for this semester you always had to rush a bit in order to get to your mythology course. 

But your professor never seemed to mind stragglers. Throughout the first two months, even when people come in twenty minutes late, the most that the professor had ever done to acknowledge the tardiness was to point out an empty seat to the late student who was having trouble finding a place to sit, and continue his teaching. Overall, he was very chill, though always with an air of respect about him. He always had a calm tone even though his voice projected well, but there was an underlying impression that if something could make him upset, he wouldn’t take things lying down. As for the hearsay related to him, when someone mentions taking any of the classes taught by Professor Sparda, people liked to talk about his age. And you had to admit, for someone whose estimated age (going off of his profile information on the school website introducing all of the professors,) was in their 50’s, he had no right looking like he’s barely 40 even with hair that white. (And he knows it. A grad student helping you find your way around campus at the start of the semester notes that every year, the professor played into the joke of being the resident vampire of the anthropology staff and dressed up as such for Halloween.)

But as for you, on the topic of getting to class on time, never wanting to disturb the class or bother heading down to a closer seat when you had already put in the effort to get from one side of the campus to the other, you always took a seat in the back row. And after a few weeks, students of habit tend to settle into the same spots, and slowly but surely, your preferred seat became the ones at the table in the far back corner, closest to the door.

And you have a table buddy. Same guy, every time, was already at his seat by the time you’re walking through the doors. And the first time you sat beside him, you immediately recognized him as the guy who shared two other core courses with you.

It was a bit hard to not recognize him within the first week of college. He had swirling patterned tattoos starting from the back of his hands all the way up his arms, disappearing under the short sleeves of his T-shirt. Makes you wonder if the shoulders is where it stops, or if there’s more. And that distinctive feature aside, he had a skateboard with him (though it’s a common transport, much like a bicycle is,) and dressed mostly in black and dark grey. And on more than one occasion, you noticed accessories such as a skull ring or a spiked armband. 

It was hard for you to say exactly if he were going for punk or goth, because he had a few points in both but also a few points shy of the extreme. He did make it look good, with his inked up look and the dark hair down to his dark clothes. Though, truth be told, it was none of your business. It was simply things you noticed because he was easily recognizable, and you shared three classes with him. 

Being distinct, however, meant that you continued to notice curiosities about him. In your two core classes, his behaviour wasn’t much different from the average student there to learn… and you only “noticed” this because of his noticeable behaviour difference in your shared mythology class:

He seemed to sleep through most of the class, blatantly so. You can’t begin to understand how the guy could even be comfortable, tilting his chair back while keeping balance somehow with his feet rested about the support under the desk, a coursebook over his face. The action was just short of him putting his feet on the desk. It was this behaviour that had you taking an extra glance at him during core courses, never finding him to do the same. 

It was only in mythology class that he’d sleep… or so you thought. There would be times where he’d finally move, and maybe flip his coursebook to the page the professor dictated to, but even when he remained awake, he was clearly not paying full attention to the course, and never take notes save for the dates of when the next paper was due or when the next quiz would be. Or, he’d be doing coursework for another class. 

But of course, this was none of your business. The two of you remained strangers and unbothered classmates for several months, until one day, you happened to be the lucky student (or perhaps some would say unlucky) to have found a lost little black kitten near your dorm building. 

Wobbly on her feet and barely three weeks old, you asked around and found no one able to claim responsibility for her. The poor thing was without a home, and you knew that if you didn’t find someone who was able to take her in soon, you’d have to try and take her to a shelter, and that honestly wasn’t as ideal to you, either. (After all, you weren’t sure what shelter nearby would be a safe one to take her to.)

You liked animals. You weren’t studying to be a vet for nothing. But the dorm, of course, had policies about animals, which was: no pets allowed. 

In your concern, it was then you heard: “Trouble?”

The question was so softly spoken, that you turned and found your tattooed desk-friend to be the surprising owner of said voice. You knew that he likely lived in the same dorm building, as you have seen him plenty of times around. His skateboard was tucked under one arm, and his messenger bag was still slung over his shoulder. Being near evening, he must have just come back from his last class of the day. 

“Well, not exactly trouble. I found this kitten here, and she’s probably lost, abandoned, or simply a stray. I don’t know what to do. I can’t just… leave her?” You provided in explanation.

With one look at the kitten, he asked first: “You have a roommate?”

“I do, and I wouldn’t want to chance bringing her up and causing problems…”

He was already rummaging through his bag, and pulled out a black hoodie that he sometimes wore when the AC in a classroom was too cold. “Here, let’s see if we can get her someplace warm, first. I have a single dorm. No roommate. A kitten isn’t going to be the end of the world with only two months left in the semester. Come with me.”

With empathy for the kitten filling your mind, you didn’t quite process how easily you just went with him as he smuggled a kitten into the dorm, until you were in his dorm room watching him set the poor kitten onto his bed. He had also gestured at a relatively comfy chair, one of those circular basket-looking ones that was comfy to curl up in for reading, and you simply sat down in it. 

His dorm room was very nicely furnished, more than some others. Clearly, someone such as his family must have helped him with the extra furniture setup. There was a sturdy but portable frame set up over and around his bed to create a cozy enclosure that allowed shelving for books and trinkets against the wall. Most people would have lofted their bed up and stuck bookshelves underneath, but he went through the trouble of preventing having to climb a ladder to get into bed, and still made room for extra bookshelves. 

He then mulled through a shelf of canned goods, and picked up a can of tuna. “Looks to be about 3 weeks, should be able to handle something soft. I don’t have anything else at the moment, so this will have to do for now, so long as we get her something proper as soon as possible. Could you hand me one of those clean plates?” He pointed towards the stack of ceramic plates beside you. (Who brought ceramic with them for dorm life? Most people would bring plastic; less chances of breakage when moving.)

The kitten sniffed at the proffered tuna, licked at it, and began to gnaw at it. For the time being, if she just ate a little, it will at least keep the poor girl from starving.

And as your companion watched, he said: “I am beginning to regret living in the dorms. Probably should have listened to my brothers who went to college before me, but alas, like them, I was too caught up with the idea of independence, and didn’t think it quite fair to start my college experience off campus by staying at home. But if I were still at home, mother nor father would not have objected to a new kitten.”

You found this to be the perfect start to conversation: “You like cats, then?” There was a bit of hope that maybe his family would also take the kitten in, but you weren’t going to be too hopeful. 

“I like all animals, truth be told. And I dare say you are studying similar courses as I for similar reasons. Vet studies? For household pets, or something more specific, if I might ask?”

Finding people in the same major was always a good way to connect, and there was little reason to be nervous about actually speaking with him now. 

You gladly gave him your explanation on the kinds of things you were hoping to do and provide after your studies, and he nodded and told you in response: “I wish to work either in conservation or for a respectable zoo. My mother is an actual vet, though specifically for rehabilitating injured or sick pets. She also happens to volunteer at a respectable shelter.”

At the mention of that, you could see where this was going. If it’s at his recommendation, then there would be less worry, right?

“I suppose that would be the only thing we can do for this kitten.” But it was hard not to get attached. “We can’t keep her in the dorms, after all.” 

“At the very least, she needs to be checked over. I can let you know later how she’s doing? I do see you in three of my classes, after all.” And he knew the two of you were on the same level of unwilling to let go of an adorable kitten to an unknown fate. 

It was a relief, really, to get help from someone in the same major. 

“Would you? That would be great. Or you can message me if you don’t mind sharing contact info…”

He didn’t mind. And it was there that you realized neither of you knew each other’s names. After sending him your contact information and name, he hummed and reciprocated with his, and you read the name out loud: “Vitale Sparda. You’re…?”

He smirked. “Yes, I’m assuredly taking my father’s mythology course for an easy grade in my electives. One of my brothers called it a family tradition. We must all, at one point, take one of father’s courses and use it for either nap time or homework time. It’s nothing we don’t already know. Father’s way of story time for us when we were younger was always related to his work, and we’d done enough school projects on the subjects to know what’s in the 101 courses.”

And you had to find this amusing. “And he doesn’t get upset at you for it?”

“I hardly think he could ever be upset at any of us save for when we blatantly break a rule that is for our own safety. To which, Dante experienced more of his discipline than either Vergil and I ever had. If there’s anyone in the family to watch out for, it’s our mother.”

The two of you had quite an interesting chat that day, and even took the conversation to the dining hall while having dinner together. (Kitten had fallen asleep after food, and Vitale wasn’t entirely concerned about leaving her in his hoodie in a box for a while.)

You learned quite a bit about your new friend. 

He preferred to go by V, which had some sort of family joke to it, because there were a number of things in his possession that used to belong to his eldest brother, Vergil, who used to label all of his possessions and with his first initial. Somewhere down the line, it became Vitale’s signature instead of Vergil’s, and that was that. (“You would think that my parents would have realized it was a bad idea to name their third child as such, creating basic initials that overlap with the eldest. But sometimes, parents simply have lapses in judgement.”)

Of course, you asked about his tattoos. 

“An eye-catching curiosity, aren’t they? I will admit, teenage rebellion played a part. But I do not regret it. It was somewhat a mixed bag of sibling quarrel turned into a dare.”

“Involving tattoos?” You asked. That was somewhat severe, considering tattoos were somewhat permanent, and his were pretty obvious…

“Well, three brothers under one roof, each with our own difficult personalities, can make for some semi-regrettable moments. But we’ve also all learned to take things in stride where we can. I started off just a pattern on my back. The rest over my arms was a later addition.”

As he explained and showed you the pattern up his arm, your gaze trailed and noticed there was also ink near his collarbone, peeking out from the collar of his t-shirt. Clearly, there was more than just ink on his back and arms, but you supposed whatever else he had on his body was in territory that was beyond your curiosity, and left it at that. 

His family lived close to campus, understandably since his father was a professor teaching here. V and his brothers grew up nearby this campus, and so they all went to school (or is starting school) here. 

V, though always close to Vergil, didn’t feel like pursuing the same passions for a profession in music, and didn’t have the energy to match Dante’s enthusiasm for being a jack of all trades, decided on pursuing the same thing as his mother. 

“Was your father upset that none of you went into anthropology?”

“For a profession? I don’t know, to be honest. Father’s always said we ought to pursue our passions, and what makes us happy. I’m not sure if he intended for that to include some of the odd choices we’ve made so far…”

“Like getting tattoos all over your back and arms?”

To that, he grinned, and agreed: “Yes, like getting a lot of tattoos. And other things. But that’s my brother’s business.”

* * *

Days later, when you walked into the classroom for your mythology class, V was actually waiting for you instead of being separated from the world around him with a book on his face. 

“I took Shadow to the vet and had her checked over. She’s a healthy kitten, at the very least, so there is little to worry about her health.” V even unlocked his phone to show you photos of the little black kitten at what was probably her first check-up. 

But the name did not escape your notice: “Shadow? Is that the name the shelter decided on?”

“No. It’s what I’m calling her.” He responded as he put his phone away.

“You named her?” There’s the unspoken rule, that giving a name makes it harder to let go.

And he was of course no stranger to the concept: “I’ll figure something out.”

So, it became something like this:

Every other class or so, he starts giving you updates on Shadow. This goes on for a couple of weeks, and when finals began to roll around, the two of you started to have study sessions and met up outside of just class. After all, you both took five of the same course, three of which you shared the same classroom and professor for. 

At one point, he seemed fairly distracted, and you noticed him scrolling through his phone. 

“Too stressed to think about the exam?” You asked. You were definitely feeling the stress. 

“Oh, no. Well, maybe a little, but I would never let it show.” He smiled, but you’re pretty sure he’s joking on purpose. He looked stressed. Any college student would be stressed during finals. But if there’s anything you’ve learned about V in the two months you’ve gotten to know him, is that he valued appearances. 

“I’m looking to move out of the dorm next semester.” He explained. “There are some decent options that will allow pets. An apartment would probably be the best way to go. Though I was wondering if you might be interested in becoming roommates?”

Whatever it was that compelled you to say yes was a wide number of reasons. Your first excuse was because of the kitten, of course. Besides, V was actually really chill, and since you both studied the same major, it meant having a comrade-in-arms to share space with, and no more looking for a spot in shared study spaces unless you both needed to go to the library. 

After the harrowing days of finals were almost over, you still had to pass one more hurdle at the end of the semester, set by V:

“I’m thinking of taking a look at two of the apartments we were looking at. Father would likely be there, also--”

“Um, wait a minute…”

“It already took a little bit of convincing for mother to not show up. Are any of your family invested in where you might move in to? Mine can be… a little clingy. No, clingy isn’t the right word. They are over-invested in mine and my siblings’ well-being.”

“So, we’re going to check out two apartments with your dad.”

“I understand if that’s a little awkward. If you would like, I can ask if my mother would have a day off, and we can all look for apartments as two vet students and a certified vet. I simply would not suggest having both of my parents present.”

Negotiations with family are always tedious, and you’re glad that for this matter, you didn’t have to deal with your family actually coming over. A few photos will suffice. 

“No, it’s fine. I know your parents are each busy with their own things, so whoever is free is fine. What’s the worst that can happen? Your dad giving me an in-person critique over my last essay paper?”

“If you asked, he would. Heavens know that I have gone through that several times, as did my brothers.”

So, you ended up walking through apartments with V and his dad. With Professor Sparda. Or, as he insisted, “Just Spencer is fine.”

He knew your name, and it was undoubtedly awkward for you. You’re not sure if he remembered your name because he cared to do so for all of his students, or if it were because V talked about you to him, and neither thought felt less embarrassing, because there’s something odd about having a professor who is the dad to your new friend.

Regardless, Spencer seemed to be a very easy-going person, and even when in a casual setting, you soon forgot that he was one of your professors, because he simply eased into a conversation that was a normal as it could be. He teased V being so easily swayed to moving out of the dorms for a kitten, but praised him also for “having the kind heart that he no doubt got from his mother.”

To which, V had chuckled and bantered back: “As if you were no different from her, begging her to rescue pets from shelters that were about to put them down.”

It was here you learnt that his family had more pets than they had children, and that was certainly… something. 

“Well, a shared love in common things doesn’t always extend to academia. I met her through circumstances involving rescuing pets, after all. Marrying her did not change that aspect of our hearts. It’s good to see that you and your brothers are each as gentle when it comes to that matter, and that you’ve made a new friend in your field from it, too.”

“Heavens, _father_ , if you are looking for an excuse to regale sappy love stories again, please do not do so in front of my friend. Or at least, not on the first time you are interacting with them as my friend, and not as your student.”

It was relieving for you to know that, should anything come around and you had to interact with Professor Sparda again outside of classes, he was as easy to approach out of the classroom as he was within the classroom. 

And by the day’s end, after some mulling, you and V decided on the apartment you would be signing a lease for, and then made plans on how to tackle any last-minute studying for the final exam you each had for the next day… which just so happened to be the one for your mythology course. 

“Any pointers or hints on what we should watch out for on the exam?” You boldly asked your professor. 

He laughed, and responded: “You won’t need them. Studying with Vitale will be the best you have for preparation. He was always the one who paid the most interest into the subject out of his brothers.”

“That’s because Vergil and Dante always had their heads in activities that were beyond me. Being six years younger has its drawbacks when you can’t keep up with your overly-energetic older siblings who spent more time trying to one-up each other than to play with me.”

* * *

One holiday break later, it was time to get moved into the new apartment. V, who _could_ have just left Shadow with his family that was already taking care of pets, actually wanted a pet to claim as his own, which was the whole reason why he decided to move out of the dorms. 

It was on this move-in day that you had the pleasure to meet V’s older brothers, and…

His nephew, Nero. 

V had messaged you beforehand that his brothers would be there to help move everything in from the car into the apartment. You didn’t have extra hands to invite, so you were grateful both of them will be there, and you will admit to being curious about them. 

It appears that not even V was informed that Vergil would be bringing Nero along, but the child was an absolute joy. 

It was apparent that the older brothers each had their own lives. Dante arrived first, and he was absolutely hard to keep up with:

Full of energy and enthusiasm, even though there were times you recalled V recounting his older brother as somewhat lazy and terrible about organization, Dante was very easy to warm up to. At first, you were concerned that his overly forward personality meant that he took to flirting with anyone he sees, but as it turns out, he genuinely means his compliments and doesn’t push far beyond that. 

“So, you’re studying to be a vet, just like V here? That’s nice! I made quite a few friends back when I was in school. Still work with a few of them, now! You never know how useful it can be to have a solid friend in the same field from your school days.” Dante had said after introductions, immediately helping V open the back of the moving truck. You didn’t bring nearly as much stuff as he did, but as it turns out, once Dante started going through some of the stuff, you heard him continue:

“Oh, hey, I remember some of these from the house! Mom and pops dug up some of the pet stuff we placed into storage, huh?”

But before any response could be given, a second car pulled up, and that was when the further surprises came. 

“Uncle V! Uncle Dante!”

“Nero, wait!”

The five-year-old bounded out of the car the moment his father undid the buckles to the child seat, and Vergil didn’t even bother closing the door to the car before striding forward to sweep the child off the street and into his arms. 

“Do not cross the street without me! You’re going to give me a heart attack!” 

Though his tone was severe, and his demeanor several times more serious than Dante, V’s eldest brother, Vergil, was genuine in his panic in the way he held the child close. 

V had a somewhat shocked look on his face. “Vergil? Why did you bring Nero with you? This is hardly--”

“I know it’s hardly safe when we’re helping you move, but his mother couldn’t be home today. I didn’t want to bother the Eleisons at the last minute, so do forgive me, but I had to bring him.”

You didn’t find anything needing to forgive, and you said so as much: “I think just Dante is plenty of help already, but thank you for coming. It’s okay if you have family matters to attend to, instead of...” You waved at the scene of moving. Really, you didn’t expect the existence of the kid, though now that you thought about it, V had mentioned that there was a six year age gap between himself and his older brothers. It was only now, looking between Vergil and Dante, did you register that this “six year age gap” also meant that Vergil and Dante were twins, and certainly old enough to each have a family of their own. 

Of course, that was none of your business. Vergil was here because he saw it as “an obligation” to make sure their little brother had sufficient help. And this sufficient help included Nero, who enthusiastically understood that things from the moving truck needed to be brought inside. The child initially grabbed one of the cushions that had fallen out of the truck, and worked his shorter legs to try and keep up with the long strides of his Uncle Dante carrying the larger boxes. Laughing, the red-clad brother slowed down just enough to let the tyke catch up and made sure to keep the door held open for the kid to get inside first. 

Seeing this, Vergil told V and you: “I do apologize if he’s imposing in your way. I simply couldn’t leave him at home.”

You really didn’t see why he felt the need to apologize for this, but V beat you to speaking: “What’s this? An unprompted apology from you? Why, those were always rare coming from you. I suppose a family of your own can do wonders on your cold personality.”

“I get enough ribbing from Dante already. I expected better from my favorite little brother.” 

You would think that Vergil was being facetious with a response like that, but his attention didn’t linger on V, and instead drifted back towards the door while adding: “Dante better be keeping an eye on Nero. If they don’t come back out soon…”

While you can’t claim to really know Vergil or Dante well, your bits and pieces of conversation with V had painted a picture for you of a generally stiff-personality in the eldest brother, and a more wild personality in the younger twin. V, having grown up stuck between such wild personas, managed to somehow embody the family’s collected coolness but with a bold expression of edgy personality. Yet right here, you could already see a lot more to each of them, as V said:

“Annoying he may be, you know Dante babies Nero as much as you do. And of course it’s like you to worry, like you did for us, though you wore your worry less on your sleeve back then.” He did hold confidence in his older siblings, and he seemed closer to Vergil than he was to Dante. 

The door to the apartment opened again, and the first thing they hear is Dante laughing and telling Nero: “Hey, don’t run now! There’s a step there-- hup!” and he swept the kid up in his arm before Nero could come bumbling out the door to scrape his knee. Nero squealed in delight from being picked up, more excited about how active the atmosphere was when Dante was involved, and to your side, Vergil could only sigh and shake his head, but there was a smile on his face. 

As all of you got back to the task at hand, you eventually found one of your boxes of books, and unpacked it before bringing the heavy box in. Not wanting Nero to get hurt in trying to brave other objects once he ran out of cushions from both yours and V’s items to bring into the house, you handed the kid books that weren’t too heavy for him to bring inside the apartment, so that he could participate while the rest of you tried to get all of the larger items inside before Nero ran out of books. 

By afternoon, everything was finally moved in, and you had to admit, if it weren’t for Dante and Vergil’s help, you and V definitely would have had some issues getting some of the heavier items into the apartment, because where V was concerned, he was definitely not made of upper body strength. 

(“See, this is why you should have done a sport like baseball.” Dante teased. 

“He was perfectly content with track and field. Leave him alone. You didn’t need another person to be competing against for most home runs.”

“Yeah? And we left the score at what again? I was up by one.”

“You never know how to count, Dante. I told you: we were _even._ ”)

Finally, with everything inside, it was time to release the beast:

Shadow was let out of her carrier to explore the new apartment. In the few months since finding her, she was growing lots, but still had the kitten look about her. 

Nero was not quite tired out from carrying books into the apartment, showing a surprising amount of energy as he hopped up from the couch to follow Shadow about. The kitten, easily distracted between both the child and the new environment, fumbled about, explored new places with Nero, and kept all the adults in the apartment tailing after them to make sure they didn’t get into anything they should not. 

Well, all but Dante, who gave up five minutes later and said: “Hey, I’m starving! Going to order pizza. What do we all want?”

And there was never a food better for a college undergrad than pizza.

* * *

The new semester starts, and having a kitchen was both interesting and infuriating. As it turns out, the enthusiasm for having more options for meals quickly waned as the two of you felt the fatigue from homework and studying, and barely two months in, it was easily back to easy-preparation meals, take-out, or even the occasional trip to the dining hall. 

Such was college life. But having an apartment and a cat to distract you and V at both the best and worst times was a blessing. 

Shadow stepped lightly, but she also liked to go where she pleased, which included being all over your textbooks. Her favorite place to settle, however, was always near V, especially when he was reading. And you could tell how at ease he was with having pets around him, as he would run a finger through Shadow’s fur when she came up to bother him, even if he was reading. 

“One of our strongest memories we had growing up with pets around the house, was the first pet father had brought to mother. An abandoned border collie puppy that shouldn’t have had any reason to be unwanted, save for the reason that someone was simply cruel. By the time Vergil and Dante were born, Nowell was about four years old. Though he was considered a dog coming up on his age by the time I came around, I managed to have about five to six years of fond memories with him before he passed.” V had told you one day. 

Everyone’s experiences with pets, of course, were varied. You shared with him what experiences you’ve had with pets, and it was no surprise that the two of you held the same measure of fondness for the joy that pets would bring into your lives. 

“We’ve had a number of pets come and go from the house. Some we’ve kept for a long time. Some, we took care of because they were too old to be living their lives out in the shelter, so we would provide them with some good final years. Some, we cared for and rehabilitated so that they could go to a loving family who would be able to provide and be patient with them. There were a few I would say were truly our family’s pets, and father had some ridiculous names for them.”

Conversations with V often yielded a lot of talk about his family in general, and it was always sweet to hear such stories from him. You learnt about how after Nowell passed, eventually there were two new puppies added to the family, which were named Rebellion and Yamato. Though V blamed the ridiculous names on his father, he then revealed that the names were picked at the suggestion of 13-year-old Vergil and Dante, so if anyone was to blame, it was all three of them and Eva for not stopping them. 

And this didn’t include other additions down the line, of two cats that their father named Baul and Modeus, of all things. (And Baul might as well have been a cat from hell, if he weren’t actually afraid of Spencer when the cat did wrong. The thought of Professor Sparda looking severe against a cat that was in trouble was honestly a little hard to imagine.)

And the list of weird names for pets (and even wildlife) that made their way into their house, whether for permanent stay or for temporary stay, went on. A rescued bat they called Nevan. A coyote the family referred to as Alastor until they safely released him. Two more dogs that were named Agni and Rudra who were very vocal and drove Dante semi-crazy when they howled along with his guitar playing. And that was just some of the more prominent examples.

At one point, Eva brought home a sickly raven to nurse back to health. V had helped pick the name out for her, and though “Lenore” was a very obvious reference to a well-known poem, it was a fitting name for the demure raven that had been through much. She was V’s reading companion for the longest time. 

And in relation to this raven, another semester ended, and another would start. When you came back to the apartment from break, you found out that V had made a new friend, though not one that either of you could domesticate:

He had been feeding a crow that lived nearby to the apartment. 

Months into your third semester, he had a name for the crow: Griffon. 

You tried to tease him, and called him Snow White, friend to all animals. 

He laughed. “What makes you say that?” He asked anyway.

“Well, you befriend animals like it’s magical, and you’re pretty pale. Snow white had black hair, too. And you’re pretty lithe. The only thing Snow White doesn’t have are tattoos.” 

The gentle smirk of amusement on V’s lips made you teasingly question: “What’s so funny? I’m right, right?”

“An amusing observation, and it reminded me of a time that I joked with my mother, asking her if the reason there was such an age gap between myself and my brothers was because she had gotten tired of her son’s antics and hoped for a gentle daughter to commiserate with. Though I must correct you on one thing out of technicality. My hair is not naturally black.”

“It’s not?” 

And then, it hit you. Professor Sparda, Vergil, and Dante, all had very fair white hair. You had seen photos of Eva from V when he showed off the pets from home, and she was blonde. 

Pure black hair was certainly not a likely trait, even if either parent had someone with hair that dark in their immediate family. 

“You happened to miss every occasion where I had to do work to touch up my roots. I’ve been dyeing it since high school. There was a certain frustration with reminding my teachers of their prodigious but also frustrating twin students six years my senior.” He laughed good-naturedly at your shock, and Shadow chose the best time to hop down from the back of the couch, into his lap. Shadow was more or less a grown cat now, and he picked her up lovingly to then say: “Besides, now I need to keep matching my favorite kitty companion. Shadow might think I betrayed her if I let my hair grow out back into white.”

To that, the only thing you could say was: “But now I really want to see you with your natural hair colour.”

V smirked. “You’ll have to simply settle for photos, then, my friend.”

“Oh, but this means I get to see photos of you before high school. Are you sure?” You found another angle to tease from. 

“Ah, I am not Vergil. I will not be embarrassed by photos of my childhood, when he and Dante collectively have more to be embarrassed about. Incidentally, Dante had, _ahem_ , according to him, ‘accidentally’ dyed his hair black when he was about 14. I do have memories of how terribly that went for him, and he did not make it work out without a haircut that he hated for a long while. Vergil had an absolute blast tormenting Dante over it for a few months, of course. And now, I get to tell Dante that I make black look better on me than him.”

Ah, family.

* * *

Life continued on, as did school. Before the two of you knew it, you were in your third year, and if everything goes according to plan, the two of you should be able to get your bachelor degrees, but things don’t end there. And with the fourth year coming up, there was a little bit of concern over the transition into vet school. 

Of course, both you and V were looking to go to the same school. The entire reason you came to this particular campus was that it was close to the vet school you wanted to get into, and it was no surprise that V’s mother had studied there. 

But even with your sights set, the factors of furthering your education where you wanted wasn’t as simple as choosing a place and going. They had to accept you, after all. And even for all of V’s collected demeanor, even he had moments of doubt that everything would go smoothly, and would fret over his reports and his grades once in a while. 

It was times like these that made it great to be friends in the same major, with Shadow and the occasional presence of Griffon (who was too smart for his own good sometimes) to distract the two of you from needless worry. 

“If we both make it into the school we want,” V started, and you corrected:

“ _When_ we both make it into the school we want.”

And he couldn’t help but smile at you as he continued: “When we do, would you like to continue with similar living arrangements? We seem to make fairly complimentary roommates.” 

“Well, how could I say no to an invitation to live with the best roommate in the world?” As you said that, you picked up Shadow, now a fully grown and absolutely beautiful sleek black cat, and nuzzled her lovingly while continuing: “Best roommate, Shadow!”

Amusement and laughter sounded. And when you both settled from the fit of laughter, you responded earnestly: “Yeah, I’m down for that. It will be good to have familiar presences when going into something unfamiliar, for me and for you both.”

Since deciding this, an amount of stress was able to lift from your being. Things are always a little less daunting when you have a friend. 

So the fourth year came around, and that was when you and V managed to add a new pet into your cozy little setup:

You both took in a Tibetan Mastiff puppy. 

You both knew this adorable and wholly black puppy was going to grow up to be very big, and for that alone (plus V’s edgy tendency) made the two of you settle on an ironic name for the mild-mannered puppy that will one day take up a whole couch: Nightmare. 

And so, it was good that Nightmare didn’t come into the scene until around the last year of undergrad studies, because this apartment was not going to cut it with a Tibetan Mastiff in it. 

Four years of tight deadlines, hard work, stress, and also joy shared between you, your roommate, and your fur-and-feather friends that the two of you made along the way, all paid off when both you and V were accepted into your next level of education at the institution you both wanted from the start. 

And with the final semester coming to a close, you had one thing left to do.

Well, you thought you only had one thing left to do, and that was to finalize on seeking out new living arrangements at you new school with V and your collective pets (Griffon, the smart crow that he is, somehow decided to follow V home on every holiday break, and then came back to the apartment when V came back. There’s now a comfy perch and weather-shelter set out on the balcony for the bird, which will no doubt continue to go where V goes.)

Turns out, you had one additional thing during the winter break, and it came to you by an invitation from V:

“My family was wondering, this year, since there will be a lot to sort out before the next semester starts, if you were actually going home this full winter break?”

The question felt a little odd, as you thought about what exactly you were doing this holiday season. The people you usually would go back to were still hashing things out with you, and one of the difficulties this winter break was that there was indeed a lot you needed to sort out to be ready and comfortable for the new semester at the new school. Not only that, but your usual holiday crowd were talking about plans of making a trip elsewhere, and you really weren’t sure if you wanted to do that when you were trying to get ready for a new environment.

So, you told him as such. And he nodded in understanding while getting back to his book, giving off an air of nonchalance as he offered: “I see. Well, if you were considering remaining nearby to prepare, instead of going where your family will be going, my family extended an invitation to you for the holidays this year. And, if you need to… I could ask them to prepare a guest room for you for the remainder of the break. You wouldn’t even have to be far from Shadow, Griffon, or Nightmare for this holiday break.”

At such an invitation, your first instinct was to refuse. You couldn’t possibly impose for an entire winter break!

But thinking about it, the offer had a lot of benefits for your current situation. 

Would you be able to handle spending winter break with your friend’s (arguably now your best friend’s) family?

It shouldn’t be too hard to handle, honestly. 

There was one thing to be squared away, however: “Does your family do gift exchanges?”

“We do, but rest assured, you have no obligation to gifting anyone anything, except for gifting us with your presence.” He responded as he cracked a smile. 

And for that cheesy joke, you threw a cushion at him. 

* * *

As it turns out, your acceptance of the invitation was, of course, not kept from V’s brothers. Which wasn’t a concern for you, but on the day of the holiday celebration, they became a concern for V. 

Before getting to that, however, was the fact that at the end of the apartment lease, as you and V collectively packed away everything, you had intended to rent a storage space for your stuff while you spend winter break at his family’s place. You were surprised when he told you there would be no problem simply storing it with his stuff at his family’s place, and at first, you assumed his assurance was because of the logic that: at the very least, one of his two older brothers had a place of his own and didn’t need to return to his old room in the house that he grew up in, and that bedroom was likely repurposed. 

(In fact, you assumed that whatever guest room there was for you was probably simply one of the old bedrooms before Vergil and Dante moved out.)

You did not expect for the destination to V’s current home to be… the classy little manor that was near this campus. 

(Really, you should have known, from the amount of pets and animals that his family helped to rehabilitate and take care of. The large property was perfectly suited for such a thing, and still had room to have housed three boys and even a guest or two.)

So, this did make you a little bit nervous, even though you had met both of V’s parents plenty of times, one through various anthropology courses for your electives, and the other from when she visited V on the regular to check up on her son. 

V, understanding your nervousness, tried to encourage you: “You may simply treat most of this house as a rehabilitation facility for the animals we shelter. There are still a few fur-and-feathered residences around, and I’m sure you’ll feel more at ease once you see that aspect of my childhood home.”

And he was right. Seeing Eva do her work from home, and being able to converse with her and even interact with some of the animals, made you feel like you could belong for the duration you were here for. 

You were even able to help with holiday preparations. And on the day of the pending family dinner, Dante first showed up with the revving of his motorcycle, followed by two women you were unfamiliar with. Turns out, his work partner, Lady (as she called herself) was a fixture of this family’s holiday gatherings since he had met her in college. And the other woman, Trish, was his cousin, from Eva’s side of the family. 

Lady saw you standing somewhat apart from everyone else, and waved: “Hey there! So you’re the new addition to the holiday party this year? Heard from Dante that his little brother was bringing a friend from college. Here!”

Before you could really respond, Lady grabbed one of the gifts that was on the stack Dante was precariously holding, and handed it to you: “For when you move into your new place for vet school!”

Immediately, your mind blanked. You remember being told that you did not have to get gifts for anyone on short notice, but you weren’t told anything about you receiving gifts, either!

Before you could stammer something out, Trish smiled slyly and grabbed another package from the stack, and handed it to you, also: “And this is one from me. Could never go wrong with something new to move into a new place with.”

“Wait, but I—”

“Honestly I don’t see why we can’t wait until later when we actually open presents together… but here ya go!” Dante followed up with yet another present he grabbed from the stack, handed it to you, and walked away while whistling a nonchalant tune. 

V stopped him for a moment: “Dante, while the gifts are likely appreciated…”

“I know I know you said your friend wasn’t going to be responsible for giving anyone anything but we wanted to, okay? Think of it more as a… congratulations you made it into the vet school you want! It just so happens to fall on the holidays.” Dante dismissed his younger brother and continued on with a merry spring to his step. You could only belatedly thank Lady and Trish as they walked past you to follow him to the back, likely to find and greet Eva and Spencer who were busy with final touches to holiday dinner. 

Coming up to you, V sympathetically consoled: “I apologize if they’ve made it a little awkward.”

Even if you were concerned, you couldn’t really refuse such gifts on a holiday such as this. So you simply told him: “Well, it’s no harm done, right? So don’t worry about it. I’ll simply be grateful for these.”

Sometime later, Vergil arrived, though less surprisingly with more people. After all, he would have Nero with him, and this time, you got to meet Nero’s mother, Seraphina.

Sera was certainly a welcome and familiar part of the family, and from bits and pieces of context, it appeared that she has been a part of this family’s holiday celebrations since before she got married. 

And when she greeted you, she also congratulated you: “I’ve heard you and Vitale both made it into the vet school that Eva studied at, and I wanted to let you know that I’m very proud of you both, even if I’ve never met you until now. Becoming a vet was V’s dream since probably as long as I’ve known him! And I’ve known him for about…”

As she paused, V snickered: “Since I was barely 3 and had no memory of ever officially meeting you. You were friends with my brothers for so long that I didn’t know you weren’t family until I was old enough to be explained that you weren’t my sister. But in the end you became part of the family, simply at a time we least suspected.”

It was really sweet to find out that V’s seemingly stoic eldest brother apparently grew up to marry his childhood sweetheart, then. How much sappier could that get? But Vergil seemed mildly embarrassed at an implication you didn’t pick up on, and scoffed at his younger brother: “Do not start, Vitale.”

To the side, Dante snickered: “Hey, look at it this way: you took the pressure off the rest of us about the inevitable ‘when are you getting married’ talk, so thanks, bro!” Funnily, Lady and Trish both elbowed Dante in the ribs, but he kept laughing instead. 

As Spencer chuckled and tried to prevent the conversation from getting out of hand, it was Sera who took the familiar banter and turned the subject around: “Well, you can often discover all sorts of things when you start living with someone, and _I’m_ happy to say that we discovered we make a good family.” After saying that, she gave Vergil a quick kiss to his cheek, which dissipated some of his ire at his siblings. 

And Nero, now blessedly eight and is growing big, didn’t care much for whatever the banter meant and finally tugged at his father’s clothes in impatience: “Dad! Can we pass out gifts already?”

No one could really say no to the child’s enthusiasm, and Vergil and Sera proceeded to hand the gifts they brought to Nero to pass out. Nothing will be opened until later, of course, and you were again surprised to receive yet another gift to open for later. It was actually a bundle of three items, one each from Vergil, Sera, and even Nero. 

Beside you, right after Nero ran back to his parents for the next item, V groaned. “I should have expected this, fool that I am. I knew that my parents got us each a gift card for buying new textbooks, but I wrote it off as an appropriate gesture. I should have known the rest of my family was going to bring gifts for you, also, and now I am the only one who did not prepare an appropriate gift for my roommate.”

You couldn’t help but laugh, and then respond wistfully: “If it makes you feel any better, I wished I had least thought about getting something for Nero.”

“Well, there could… always be a next year? Or a next time.”

That was a thought. Though you couldn’t guarantee that you would always be around during the holiday seasons…

And V continued softly: “Or at least, I believe I would like for there to be a next time. It doesn’t have to be next year. We do still have quite a few years of school left.”

Yes. Your path to becoming a certified vet was still ahead of you. “We have time, yes. And another few years of being roommates, too.”

While the two of you had this conversation, you had already lost track of what else was going on as Dante and Lady were having some sort of merry conversation with Sera, and Trish received her delivery from Nero. Eva had been circling the room with a camera, and neither you nor V caught that she had snapped a photo of the two of you casually having a conversation, where V told you with such casualness that you almost missed the nervousness he was hiding:

“And perhaps we would be able to keep in touch even after schooling. I would even be happy to continue sharing a space with you, with whatever other new animal friends we find along the way.”

There were many ways to interpret this, and such words surprisingly filled you with a nervous delight. 

Of course, you still had a long time to think about this, but the thought of this, even so far out into the future…

No one knows for certain what the future may bring. But one could always hold a vision for what they could want.

The answer was yours to give, and you were certain that wherever the two of you ended up, it was going to be a great place. 

**Author's Note:**

> \- I thought about it long and hard, and decided I would rather solidify that Nero has a loving mother in his life, and chose to write her into the final holiday scene. By that point, I didn’t want her to be just some “generic woman” so, if you haven’t already met her, meet Seraphina Valkyrie. And yes, she didn’t change her last name. She’s my primary OC as Nero’s mother.  
> \- And yes, the implication is that Sera and Vergil got a little more distracted than they should have during their first year of college. I’m not sorry, Vergil. You’re a big idiot in canon and you don’t get to escape that in my AUs.  
> \- I could not decide *exactly* what it was that Dante (and his associates) did for a living, so you can leave that up to your imagination. =P  
> \- Meanwhile, Vergil is in the middle of further studies in violin at some well known music school.  
> \- I dared not presume that traditional Christmas or Christmas at all is what the Sparda family would celebrate, although there is sufficient reason that they would, I don’t know anything about my giftee. As someone who did not grow up in a family that celebrated actual Christmas, I’m touchy about details like that so I described the holiday gathering with very vague things.  
> \- You know what’s really up my alley? The “you might as well be a couple already” trope. Reader lives a few years with V, continues to make plans to do so, and one can always argue that pet owners are also pet parents. :’D Spencer and Eva totally suggested to V to invite Reader over because they are already treating Reader as V’s S/O.


End file.
